Housing crunch leads to landlord-tenant disputes in Sonoma

As housing prices rise, landlord and tenant disputes are increasing in Sonoma County and across California.

Housing has become a major issue in California as cities and counties across the state deal with high demand and few new housing units. For tenants, the housing crisis has led to sky-high rents and difficulty in finding affordable housing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the housing crunch has also led to many landlord and tenant disputes, including in Sonoma County, which has hardly been immune from such problems. As the Sonoma Index-Tribune reports, activists, legal experts, and officials across the county are grappling with ways of dealing with the housing crunch, with proposals ranging from rent controls to tighter restrictions on evictions.

Eviction resources

As rents continue to rise across Sonoma County, there have been concerns about tenants being unfairly evicted from their homes to make way for higher paying tenants. Those concerns have led to calls for better resources for those who are facing eviction. The county, for example, has taken an approach that focuses on tenant complaints and evictions.

County officials are looking to the civil court system to intervene in cases where tenants complain about substandard housing. Furthermore, the county has approved funds for additional county employees to enforce housing regulations. The county has also set aside funds to assist tenants who are facing eviction.

Rent control proposals

One of the more controversial proposals that has been made to deal with the housing crunch is rent control. In contrast to county officials who focus on eviction restrictions and the civil court system, city-level officials in Santa Rosa favor rent controls to help stem the worst impact of the housing crunch.

As the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports, City Council recently extended a moratorium on rent increases that exceed three percent. That moratorium, however, is only a temporary measure and will expire after 90 days unless it is renewed or a more permanent solution is found. The moratorium will affect 12,000 apartments, while exempting single-family homes, duplexes, owner-occupied triplexes, and condominiums. While rent controls have a lot of popular support, they are generally opposed by realtors and landlords who argue that such controls hurt tenants because they provide little incentive for landlords to upgrade properties.

Landlord-tenant disputes

The high cost of rent in Santa Rosa and throughout Sonoma County is playing out in the form of an increase in landlord and tenant disputes. For those who are involved in a landlord-tenant dispute, it is important to get help from a qualified attorney. California's landlord and tenant laws are notoriously complex. An experienced attorney at the Law Office of Ethan A. Glaubiger, representing both landlord and tenants, can help those who are involved in a dispute uphold their rights and potentially find workable solutions to their predicament.

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